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Book Rich Environments
Bringing a vibrant culture of books to public housing communities
Book Rich Environments (BRE) is a tri-sector collaboration between nonprofit organizations, the U.S. Department of Education, and corporate publishers that aims to infuse public housing communities across the country with a vibrant and accessible culture of books and connect families living in public housing communities with reading-related resources, in service of working to improve opportunities and outcomes for children living in public housing.
Since 2017, Book Rich Environments has:
National Book Foundation serves as the project lead, with U.S. Department of Education, the Urban Libraries Council, and the National Center for Families Learning serving as key planning partners.
63 HUD-assisted communities across the country serve as local partners, implementing the following three key initiative components:
The program has been made possible through the generous book donations provided by: ABRAMS, Bloomsbury Publishing, Candlewick Press, First Book, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, The Lantern Library & Levine Querido, Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Random House, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, Sourcebooks, and W. W. Norton & Company.
For more information on how your community can participate in Book Rich Environments, please see How to Join.
In 2026, Book Rich Environments partnered with 63 HUD-assisted communities across 39 states and Washington DC to build a strong, vibrant population of readers across the country.
148 local Book Rich Environments partners will distribute over 309,000 books to children and families living in public housing.
| Akron, OH Albuquerque, NM Atlanta, GA Barnwell, SC Billings, MT Boise, ID Boulder, CO Brownsville, TX Cambridge, MA Chandler, AZ Chicago, IL Cincinnati, OH Contra Costa County, CA Covington, GA Detroit, MI Durham, NC El Paso, TX Elizabeth, NJ Fayette County, PA Fort Wayne, IN Fresno, CA Goldsboro, NC | Grand Forks, ND Gregory, TX Harlingen, TX Helena-West Helena, AR Houston, TX Kansas City, MO Las Vegas, NV Leech Lake and surrounding Nations, MN Lincoln, NE Los Angeles, CA Louisville, KY Marin County, CA Miami, FL Minneapolis, MN Nashville, TN Navajo Nation, AZ New Bedford, MA New Orleans, LA New York, NY Oklahoma City, OK Phenix City, AL | Philadelphia, PA Phoenix, AZ Pocatello, ID Portland, OR Rapid City, SD Salt Lake County, UT San Antonio, TX San Diego, CA San Joaquin County, CA San Mateo County, CA Sarasota, FL South Delta (Leland), MS Springfield, MA Stanislaus County, CA Roanoke, VA Tacoma, WA Tampa, FL Topeka, KS Washington, DC Wheeling, WV |
Program Overview
Book Rich Environments (BRE) is a tri-sector collaboration between nonprofit organizations, the U.S. Department of Education, and corporate publishers that aims to infuse public housing communities across the country with a vibrant and accessible culture of books and connect families living in public housing communities with reading-related resources, in service of working to improve opportunities and outcomes for children living in public housing.
Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) across the country serve as local partners, with support from the local public library system and other local literacy partners, to implement the following three key initiative components within their community:
Program Components and Responsibilities
As a Book Rich Environment community, you will receive the following:
While the program comes at no financial cost to Book Rich Environment partners and participants, it does require commitment to a few key responsibilities. PHA partners, in collaboration with their local public library and literacy partners, commit to the following responsibilities:
Frequently Asked Questions
How can my community participate in Book Rich Environments?
Book Rich Environments is currently active in 63 communities across the country. You can find the list of current BRE locations on our website.
Please fill out this interest form if you would like to receive more information and get added to our waitlist. The National Book Foundation is planning on adding ~2 new sites per year for the next five years as part of our 2026-2031 strategic plan, with a focus on new partners in rural and Tribal communities and states that don’t yet have BRE sites.
Where do the books come from? Who picks them?
The National Book Foundation works with corporate publisher partners to secure donations of new, high-quality books. While donations are dependent on a publisher’s available stock, NBF staff reviews titles and descriptions before inclusion in the program.
Once the donation process is complete, NBF curates a collection for each individual BRE community, attempting to match each community with a diverse and thoughtful allotment of books that reflects the community profile submitted in the EOY survey. At this time, NBF is not able to accommodate requests for specific titles or age ranges.
How many books do BRE communities receive?
The total number of books donated to a BRE community (referred to as allotment) is calculated based on the total number of books donated to Book Rich Environments by publishers that year, and your community’s size. The larger your community, the more books you will receive.
Since publisher donations vary year to year, exact numbers of books allotted also varies. The average number of books allotted in 2026 was 6,000 books, with allotments as small as 500 books and as large as 45,000 books.
For more information, contact NBF Education Programs Manager, Tasnim Hussain at education@nationalbook.org.
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